A Master Gardener explains how to use these innovative Styrofoam containers with pyramid-shaped cells.
I began my own come starting endeavors by scavenging assorted containers that promised a healthy kickoff to my tiny sproutlings . Milk carton , bungalow cheese and yoghurt containers , whipped margarine tubs , orange and grapefruit rinds , egg cartons , wax - delineate food grain box seat , advertizing infinitum . Quite a collection of odd sizes and shapes , but with a exhaustive cleaning and a couple of hole perforate in the bottom for drainage , they did the job quite nicely .
When I went to work in the Vegetable Crops Department of the University of California at Davis , I had an opportunity to try legion style of seedling trays . tray made more sense than my ragtag accumulation of misfit container , so I made an investiture in several types used by the U.C. Davis veggie work party . One was the Speedling tray , which I buy from Peaceful Valley Farm Supply . Ah , that fatal introduction to the wonder of Speedlings !
These trays were educate by Speedling , Inc. , for large - graduated table USDA . The company ’s letters patent has since run out , but I ’ve never located a reservoir for trays other than those made by Speedling , Inc.
Speedling tray are roughly 13 - 1 ⁄ 2 inches wide by 26 - 1 ⁄ 2 inches long by 3 inches mysterious , and they typically come in four electric cell sizes : 1 - inch ( 200 cells per tray ) , 1 - 1 ⁄ 2 - inch ( 128 cells per tray ) , 2 - inch ( 72 cells per tray ) , and 3 - inch ( 32 cells per tray ) . Although they ’re rather bulky compared with the distinctive plastic nursery monotonous , they ’re made of shaped polystyrene and are quite lightweight , which is helpful when tote the trays around the garden .
The tray with the 3 - inch prison cell seemed too exorbitant a purchase , so I bought the little sizing and planned to pop most of my germ in the 1 - inch cells and to transplant at the earliest possible time . I frequently was n’t able-bodied to get to the plants early , and by the sentence I did make out to do the transplanting , the plantlet were more mature than I ante them to be . Ironically , this proved to me the biggest benefit of Speedlings .
Root pruning is automatic
Because the cell are pyramidic in shape , point to a 1 ⁄ 4 - inch hole at the bottom , the seedling solution are guided downward . When the taproot encounters the tune outside the bottom muddle , it is automatically root - pruned , prompting the development of self-feeder etymon that grow downward . The seedlings are well frozen and quick for transplant anytime after the first duo of weeks . In my experience , this contrast with square - bottom containers , which squeeze the root to encircle around themselves , want untangling and resulting in terms and setback to the organ transplant .
In Davis , I became interested in stretch the uprise time of year . I soon discovered the insulating value of my polystyrene Speedling trays . With the addition of row covering as a canopy , held up by the plant label stake , the ejaculate were envelop in an surroundings - qualify cocoon that helped them germinate and grow in cooler weather condition .
When the plants in a Speedling tray are large enough to transplant , you may pry them out of the cells with a sliver knife or even a inflexible plant recording label without disturbing their ancestor . Watering the day before assures a turgid works , but allows supererogatory moisture to drain , so the rootball easy pops out .
Here ’s where the real benefit of the pyramidal - shape rootball fare into play . When transplanting a seedling , you want to point the roots downward so they grow into a sturdy root system . If the roots never penetrate beyond the top few inches of the ground , they ’ll be subject to drying out . With transplant acquire in a Speedling tray , the roots are already maneuver downward , ready to dive down into the dirt . You do n’t have to tease apart apart a straightforward - shape rootball and then wait for the roots to figure out which way is down before they finally settle in and set forth get again .
Then there ’s the longevity of the trays themselves . Although the trays from my first leverage have become unsportsmanlike and dinge ( and are plain tasty to slug , which have nibbled the border ) , I ’m still using them — some 20 years subsequently . I now take both raw and sometime Speedlings to my Master Gardener division on dick and recycling to exemplify the value of frugal but wise purchase . My trays emphatically pay up for themselves yr after year .
Several years ago , I decided to accept the world of my predilection for late transplanting . I had been using only the trays with 1 - inch - straight cells , so I could take off as many seedlings as possible in each tray . This was driving me unhinged because I was always recent in transplanting . I was eternally battling with overgrown seedling planted too thick in each cell , a problem not even a Speedling tray can overcome . I now admit myself the sumptuosity of using tray with 2 - column inch - square cells for just about every kind of seed , and save the 1 - inch - solid cells for leek . And I sow three seeds in each cell : one to come up and thrive , one to come up but fall victim to disease or critter , and one never to germinate in the first situation . The lone subsister has a sturdy stem and full foliage , its roots occupy the full cell , and transplanting is a child’s play .
Sources for Speedling Trays
Harmony Farm SupplyPO Box 460 , Graton , CA 95444;707/823 - 9125;www.harmonyfarm.com
Peaceful Valley Farm SupplyPO Box 2209Grass Valley , CA 95945888/784 - 1722www.groworganic.com
Speedling , Inc. PO Box 7220Sun City , FL 33586813-645-3221www.speedling.com
— Yvonne Savio directs the Common Ground Garden Program for U. C. Cooperative Extension Service in Los Angeles County .
picture : Marc Vassallo .
February 2000
fromKitchen Gardening#25
More great seed-starting information:
•Soil - Block Your Seeds•Seed Starting Strategies•Video : A dewy-eyed elbow room to Start source Indoors•Get Those Seedlings in the background
For more link to articles , web log posts , and TV on start vegetable and flower seeds , seeAll About pop Seeds .
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In a Speedling tray, seedling roots are air-pruned as they poke through holes at the bottom of the tray, so seedlings are rarely rootbound.
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Speedling trays come in several cell sizes. The most versatile are the 2-inch cells, seen in the tray and with lettuce starts, above.
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The angled sides of the Speedling cells encourage seedling roots to grow downward, rather than circling around as in a square cell. The pyramidal soil plugs are easy to transplant.
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You don’t have to fight to pop a pyramidal plug out of a Speedling tray (above), especially if you water the night before, leaving the plug neither too wet nor too dry.
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